Hannity gave
his longtime friend a chance to assure the American people that he wouldn’t abuse power or seek retribution if he wins a second term. Would you? Trump's response, “Except for day one,”
And in case you missed it, he said it again later.
“We love this guy,” Trump said of Hannity. “He says, ‘You’re not going to be a dictator, are you?’ I said: ‘No, no, no, other than day one.
"We will immediately stop all of the pillaging and theft. Very simply: If you rob a store, you can fully expect to be shot as you are leaving that store,"
Trump has tried to position himself as a candidate who favors law and order and would be tough on crime. Even though
he is facing seven lawsuits, including four criminal indictments
In an interview with Univision, he went even further. “If I happen to be president and I see somebody who’s doing well and beating me very badly, I say, ‘Go down and indict them,’” he said.
Last December, he mused about circumventing the Constitution, arguing that the election fraud he alleges “allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution.”
He has taken an especially hostile approach to the press, vowing to “rout the fake news media,” calling reporters “THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!” and saying outlets like NBC News and MSNBC should be investigated for treason.
Trump’s
extensive policy plans also rely on a dramatic expansion of executive power. He wants to strip tens of thousands of career federal workers of their civil service protections, has vowed new ideological tests for those entering the country and has talked about
increasing the military’s role on domestic soil, including sending the National Guard to the border and to cities like Chicago to tackle crime.
He has warned that the gravest threats to the nation come “not from abroad, but from within,” has called for expanded use of the death penalty while praising countries that rely on “quick” trials and
extrajudicial killings, and has said
looters should be shot.
He has continued to praise authoritarian leaders like China’s Xi Jinping, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, while dehumanizing his enemies as “scum” and “thugs” who “live like vermin.”
Aides argue the former president did not enact some of his most extreme campaign promises, like jailing his then-rival Hillary Clinton or enacting “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States,” though he did try to ban foreign nationals from a handful of Muslim-majority countries. They note his campaign operation this time around has been widely praised as more disciplined and professional than his previous efforts — a sign of what could be to come.
But if he wins again, Trump is expected to face far fewer guardrails, including an administration filled with loyalists now experienced in wielding federal power, fewer rivals in Congress and more appointees across the courts.
Quentin Fulks, the No. 2 official on Biden’s reelection campaign, pushed back at Trump’s attempts to turn the issue back on Biden and said there is no comparison between the men. Biden, he said, is not standing at the presidential podium “saying that he’s going to round up his political enemies or use the government to go after his political enemies.”
He said it was imperative for Democrats to “call out this rhetoric when we see it and make sure the American people really know what’s at stake.”
Meanwhile, Ken Cuccinelli, a top immigration official in Trump’s administration who now leads a super PAC supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for president, called the former president’s dictator remarks “provocative” and vintage Trump.
“Do I think he’s trying to needle everybody? Yes, I do. He enjoys doing that,” Cuccinelli said. “Does it help improve America? No, it doesn’t. And he doesn’t care about that because his first concern is Donald Trump.”